


I'll Be Home For Christmas

by TylerAndAlexAndCeddyOhMy



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Relationship Affermations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-09-25 18:55:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TylerAndAlexAndCeddyOhMy/pseuds/TylerAndAlexAndCeddyOhMy
Summary: Brayden, Val, and their families have Christmas in Tampa.





	I'll Be Home For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [verbaeghe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/verbaeghe/gifts).



> Ok, so the title is cheesy AF but I hope you like this little slice of life!!

Brayden still felt weird about being in Val’s house without him, even though he came every week to check on it. It felt big and hollow, every footstep echoing around the high ceilings. 

The schedule had worked out terribly; the team was going to be on the road the entire week before Christmas so Brayden needed to get a head start on decorating. 

He was pretty sure Val used some sort service to do the decorating but he hadn’t mentioned anything about it when Brayden had asked where he kept the decorations (in the finished attic storage space, on the left, in plastic storage boxes labeled Christmas, Brayden).

He opened the doors and windows on the first floor to air the house out and enjoy the cool breeze coming off the water. 

Brayden spent the entire morning moving boxes from the attic to the living room and organizing them by type of decoration and room they were going in. 

The trees, yes two of them, twelve foot each, were to be delivered in the early afternoon. 

After the decorations were organized Brayden didn’t know where to start. There were a lot of them and many were not to his taste, but they were very Val. Tasteful, elegant, expensive. Brayden’s mom still hung his macaroni ornaments on their Christmas tree. 

The banister decorations seemed the easiest thing to do so he cracked open the first box and pulled out garland, vowing to go shopping to add more things he liked and Val wouldn’t hate. 

Brayden was glad when the doorbell rang, hours later, so he could take a break. He’d been through several boxes but hadn’t made a dent in decorating. 

There were four guys there to set up the trees so Brayden showed them where they should be. 

“Your boss really goes all out for Christmas huh?” The guy holding out a clipboard for him to sign asked. 

“My what?” Brayden asked, confused. 

“Blond guy, weirdly deep voice? I used to deliver food here all the time for my other job. You’re his assistant right?”

“Oh,” Brayden said. Assistant, that was new. “Yeah, no he’s my-“

“Hey!” The guy yelled at one of the other workers, interrupting Brayden. “Be careful! 

“-boyfriend,” Brayden finished as the unlistening guy took the clipboard from him and rushed over to continue chastising his worker. 

Brayden just shrugged as they continued setting up the trees. He went back to his decorating until it was time to see them out. 

Brayden realized it was going to take a lot longer than he had planned. He decided to go shopping, not only did he want to add decorations to the collection but there were quite a few strings of lights out that needed to be replaced, then run by his apartment and grab a few things to stay the night. It would be easier. 

After his errands Brayden had to make three trips from the car for the new decorations he’d bought. Most of which he was pretty sure Val wouldn’t hate. 

After he brought in the decorations he settled into Val’s bedroom. 

Brayden knew Val hated that he still thought of things as his or Val’s, especially since Brayden had practically lived there before Val had been traded. But it was hard to think of the house Val had bought before meeting Brayden as theirs, even though Val did. 

Val also hated that Brayden had moved back into his apartment rather than living in the house. But he also understood the house was _big_ and _empty_ without both of them there so he settled for Brayden moving back in when he was in town for games or when they were both in Tampa for parts of the summer. 

It was easy to settle in, all his things already had a place in the bathroom and stuff like his preferred soap and shaving cream were already there. 

 

After two days straight of decorating with no end in sight Brayden decided to go ahead and move all of his stuff to Val’s house, it would be easier than running back and forth to his apartment when he needed something. He would be staying there through the holiday anyway and both sets of their parents would be in town soon and would be staying with them. 

Brayden packed up a few weeks worth of clothes and suits, his PlayStation, and everything he would need for the upcoming road trip and loaded it into his Jeep. 

When he got back to Val’s he unpacked again and set up his playstation in the living room and went back to decorating. 

He had to stand on a ladder to decorate the trees and when he was done with the first one he snapped a picture and sent it to Alex. 

Alex sent him a thumbs up and invited himself over for dinner. Brayden shrugged and pulled another steak from the freezer he’d stocked. 

 

After they’d eaten, Alex was surveying the decorations Brayden had put up already. 

“They look good, but it’s not nearly as much as Val usually puts up,” Alex said, pointing around the house with his beer bottle. 

“I know,” Brayden huffed a sigh. “I still have like eight boxes of stuff left.”

“Jesus. Eight boxes left? I don’t have eight boxes of anything much less Christmas stuff.”

“I know, right? Apparently I do now,” Brayden answered with a laugh. 

 

Later, Brayden was Skyping with Val on his iPad when things got a little heated and he lost his grip on it and dropped it on the bed. 

“Are you at our house?” Val asked from the upturned iPad. 

“Yeah,” Brayden panted.

“Why?” Val asked. 

Brayden swallowed, and caught his breath before picking the iPad up again. “Just making sure everything is ready for Christmas before I leave for my road trip.”

“Oh, I thought you already did that,” Val hummed.

“I’ve been here a few days, can we talk about this later?” Brayden groaned.

“Oh, right. Yes.”

 

When Brayden got home from the road trip his family and Val’s parents were in town, all staying at the house. It was the middle of the night when he got in so he tiptoed in and went straight up to bed. He didn’t get up until nearly lunchtime, it had been a long and cold roadtrip and the game had started at 10 Tampa time, then he’d flown home when it was over, to get home to his family as soon as possible.

Honestly Brayden could have rolled over and gone back to sleep but he felt like a bad host because he could hear people moving around downstairs.

When he walked into the kitchen his mom kissed his cheek and handed him a plate of chicken she’d cooked for lunch. 

“What time is Val’s flight coming in?” His dad asked, making his own plate.

“Three, we hope. He should be able to make that flight, even if they go to OT,” Brayden answered. “Where are Mr. and Mrs. Filppula?”

“Shopping, they didn’t want to have to bring all their presents with them,” His mom answered. “And your brother is fishing outback.”

They spent the day together, and took out the boat when Val’s parents got back from shopping.

Brayden took a nap after dinner, texting Val good luck and to let him know he made his flight and he would be at the airport to meet him.

Luckily Val easily made his flight and Brayden parked and went to his gate to meet him. Usually he wouldn’t but decided if there was anyone who actually cared about them at the airport at three AM on a Monday to see him kiss his boyfriend then more power to them, Brayden couldn’t care less.

They held hands in the car, fingers intertwined, all the way home. 

“Think we can stay quiet?” Brayden asked, wiggling his eyebrows at a light. “We don’t want to wake anyone up when we get home.”

“We certainly do not,” Val agreed. “Better be extra quiet.”

Brayden had turned on all of the Christmas lights before he had left so Val could get the full effect of all of the decorating Brayden had done.

When they got home and pulled into the garage Brayden made Val cover his eyes so he could lead him into the living room. Brayden took his bags and Val’s hand and led him in. After setting the bags down and positioning Val where he would have the best view Brayden let him uncover his eyes.

Val stood for a moment with his mouth open, looking around at the decorations, lights and garland everywhere.

“Brayden, it’s beautiful. You added more lights!”

“Yes, do you really like it? I added a few things here and there-”

Val cut him off with a kiss. “It’s perfect, Bray. You’re welcome to add whatever you want, these are our decorations in our house for our Christmas. You can change whatever you want,” Val assured him.

“The guy who delivered the trees thought I was your assistant,” Brayden blurted out. He hadn’t planned on saying anything, but it had been weighing on his mind and he couldn’t hold it in with Val seemingly talking about their future.

“What?” Val asked, confused.

“He used to deliver food to us all the time, he thought that I was your assistant,” Brayden explained.

“Does that bother you?” Val asked carefully.

“No,” Brayden said. “It was mostly just weird. Who answers their boss’ door in their underwear on a weekday afternoon to accept a food delivery.”

Val chuckled and shook his head.

“Also, I was wondering if it bothered you?” Brayden asked. “What people might think about us I mean.”

Val took Brayden’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. “No baby, not even a little bit. I love you and I couldn’t care less about our age difference or what anyone else thinks about us. As long as we are happy with us, nothing else matters.”

Brayden nodded along. “I love you too.”

“Ready to go up?” Val asked..

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Brayden answered, allowing himself to be pulled up the stairs.


End file.
